Page 137 of Knight
I blinked water out of my eyes. “No, I was just fighting for myself.”
“Yes, and protecting you was protecting me because I love you, Will.” He lifted my hand, my fingers bruised and swollen, and laid a soft kiss on it. “I love you, okay? And if I’d lost you, it would have broken me.”
My chest loosened. The dark pit threatening to swallow me receded. “I love you too. So damn much. I don’t want you to see that brute from tonight when you look at me.”
“I only see the man I love,” Aiden said. “Nothing has changed, sweetheart. I already knew who you were before tonight. I still know who you are now.”
“Okay.” I bent to kiss his forehead. “I don’t deserve it, but okay.”
Aiden cupped my face. “Of course you do. Don’t let those bikers take everything you were fighting for. This is your life, here. Not there. Not with them.”
Ikissed him, need rising in me. Not lust. Hell, my dick wasn’t even hard. No, this was a different kind of need.
I was desperate for Aiden’s comfort. His compassion. His words soothed the ragged edges of a wound tonight’s fight opened. It was a scar that hadn’t fully healed. One I thought faded and nearly invisible. Turned out, it was just under the surface, waiting to bleed.
Aiden kissed me gently, backing up his words with love. “Turn around, baby,” he whispered against my lips. “Let’s wash your hair.”
I turned and tilted my head back, letting the spray pour over me. Aiden traded the soap for shampoo and worked his fingers through my hair.
The soap stung the back of my head. I gritted my teeth, silently enduring it.
“You’ve got a small cut. I’ll doctor it up in bed.”
I grunted. “I’m fine.”
He scratched at the top of my head with his nails—away from my sore spots—and it felt so good I closed my eyes and sighed.
“There you go,” he murmured. “Just relax and let me take care of you.”
“You’re too good to me.”
“Just the right amount of good, I think. Okay, let’s rinse you off.”
He eased back, guiding me under the spray again, and worked the soap from my hair.
“There we go.” He pressed up against me and kissed my shoulder. “All clean.”
If only it were that easy. But as Aiden held me, his love unwavering in the face of my darkness, I thought maybe I was closer than I’d ever been before.
If redemption existed for me, it surely lived in the love I had for this man.
CHAPTER 29
KNIGHT
Things slowly got backto normal. I spent Sunday in bed, with Aiden attending my every need—well, except the one I’d most like attended. He’d insisted I needed to rest, and my bruised and battered body seemed to agree.
I slept and ate and tried not to snap when Aiden checked my condition every few hours. He’d seen me at my worst, and he still loved me. His love manifested as caretaking, and I’d be a huge hypocrite to complain about that.
Finally, I’d given my love to someone who loved me just as much. It made those years with Puck look even more toxic than they had before.
On Monday, the guys all stopped in to see how I was doing, and we had a few beers. By Tuesday, I was okay to go to work.
Angela looked horrified when I walked in the door. “Not again!”
I smiled wryly as everyone looked up, eyes wide. All but Cyrus. I’d warned him about what was happening in case I needed some extra time off to heal. I’d gotten off easy, though, and I could live with some lingering soreness.
“Last time,” I said. Then, not wanting to jinx myself, I added, “I hope.”
